1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to vehicle seat frames.
2. Background Art
Vehicle seat frames are designed to withstand various static and dynamic loading criteria. For example, a seat back frame for a rear vehicle seat often must support a back of an occupant, while providing a wall between a passenger compartment and a cargo compartment, such as a trunk. Thus, seat back frames for rear seats often are designed to be exposed to cargo during travel. Additionally, vehicle seat back frames for rear vehicle seats are often pivotally connected to the vehicle body to provide access to the storage compartment and for permitting cargo to extend into the passenger compartment. Thus, a rear surface of the vehicle seat back provides a portion of the load floor. Therefore, the seat back frames for rear vehicle seats are often designed for supporting cargo on a rear surface of the seat back. Additionally, a rear seat back frame is designed to receive and absorb various dynamic loads such as front and rear impacts.
Rear seat back frames can be designed per option to extend across a rear seating row (full or one hundred percent). Rear seat back frames can also be designed per option as a split frame. Split frames commonly split to separate a seat back for one occupant from another seat back for two occupants; such configurations are referred to as a 60/40 seat back wherein the frame is split between a frame that provides approximately sixty percent of the seat back and a frame that provides approximately forty percent of the seat back. In order to withstand the design criteria and provide the desired seating options, vehicle seat back frames for rear vehicle seats are often designed with a closed or open steel profile to provide a high stiffness and a high modulus of elasticity for withstanding such loading. The steel frames are often welded together to form the seat back frame.